My first month living in Xi'an

Written by Dec 26, 2006 07:12

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It has now been one month. It seems like much longer than that. My apartment is great. I think it's really nice. The furniture is really outdated but the apartment is huge! I thought I would get a tiny apartment.
I really enjoy my job. I am working for Kid Castle at "School 3"
I love my students they are all so cute! Actually they are too cute and get away with too much because of it. I really haven't been doing too much site seeing because I am waiting for my friend to arrive.
I have bought a dog though. It's a chuhwahwa, her name is Wawa which means "doll" in Chinese. The dog was really cheap and the leash was included!
She is a sweet dog. I hope I can take her home to Canada when the time comes.
My school Christmas party was last Sunday it was great! I was a host and got to stand on stage and speak the whole night, I even had to sing. The kids were surprised to see me out of my work clothing and in a fancy dress! It was funny.
One of the other foreign teachers that I work with dressed up as Santa and surprised all of the kids and they sure were surprised! Because the students are 3-10 years old the little ones thought he really was Santa!
Besides the party the teaching is going great. The lessons are so simple to prepare and the students are happy to learn, well most of them. I will add some pictures of the school and my students.
Christmas in Xi'an was....strange. Christmas here is a mix between Halloween and New Years. Everyone walks through the streets wearing masks. There are fireworks and lots of food. You can play "street games" like get three balls in the basket and win a stuffed animal. I didn't stay out too long there were so many people in the streets I couldn't handle it. I went home as quickly as possible. On Christmas night I took my sweet neighbors out for dinner to Pizza Hut, which is a fancy restaurant here. Everyone dresses up to go there. They all enjoyed it, especially the kids. They thought the free refills of Coke were amazing! And took full advantage of it... three huge glasses each!
It was interesting teaching them how to use a knife and fork. They wouldn't eat the pizza with their hands. They liked the garlic bread, I didn't like it much. Then for dessert the kids all got GIANT sundaes! It was a great night.

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Comments (3)

Apr 4, 2014 01:41 Reply

Mr.SOLAIREMEMPHIS from USA said:

Kid castle is a scam and definitely not a place to work for. I worked for them for 8 months and it was torture. You will not be respected or paid very well. There isn't an honest soul in the entire company. Did I forget to mention that the school is family owned? Yes, they don't disclose this to you until they all gang up on you to entrap you with their one sided contract.
If you happen to work at school 3 be careful. Winnie, Joanna, and Celeste are friends. School 3 also has a rat infestation so do not take lunch with you because it will attract the rats to come out. Cindy is the foreign teacher assistant but she's just an informant to management so don't do anything around her that you don't want your bosses to know.

If you still decide to go work there or decide to live in China, have a way to come home and know the embassy's number by heart.

Dec 17, 2007 12:12 Reply

DONTGOTOKIDCASTLE said:

My first teaching job in China was working for Kid Castle Xi’an. I came to this company through an agent. I quickly learned about the reputation, but it wasn’t until I was a couple weeks into my contract that I began to experience it. Even though I was teaching 23 classes at the time I was told that I wasn’t completing my 32 hours a week, so I would Therefore when I refused to teach the extra classes because I wasn’t being paid I was not only threatened by the management, but I was moved to a different apartment without heating in the middle of winter. I have seen them threaten foreign teachers, and some of the ex staff that was still in Xi’an has nothing but negative stories. I wouldn’t wish this kind of treatment on my worst enemy.

Feb 12, 2007 19:26 Reply

BETHANYBETHANY said:

I didn't see your photos. Maybe they are in the Photo Album?

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